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Practical Guidance for Clinical MicrobiologyPractical Guidance for Clinical Microbiology Laboratories: Viruses Causing Acute Respiratory Tract InfectionsRespiratory viral infections are associated with a wide range of acute syndromes and infectious disease processes in children and adults worldwide. Many viruses are implicated in these infections, and these viruses are spread largely via respiratory means between humans but also occasionally from animals to humans.
ReviewPersistent Infection and Long-Term Carriage of Typhoidal and Nontyphoidal SalmonellaeThe ability of pathogenic bacteria to affect higher organisms and cause disease is one of the most dramatic properties of microorganisms. Some pathogens can establish transient colonization only, but others are capable of infecting their host for many years or even for a lifetime.
ReviewDiagnosis of Human Immunodeficiency Virus InfectionHIV diagnostics have played a central role in the remarkable progress in identifying, staging, initiating, and monitoring infected individuals on life-saving antiretroviral therapy. They are also useful in surveillance and outbreak responses, allowing for assessment of disease burden and identification of vulnerable populations and transmission “hot spots,” thus enabling planning, appropriate interventions, and allocation of...
ReviewMatrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization–Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry for the Rapid Detection of Antimicrobial Resistance Mechanisms and BeyondMatrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has been successfully applied in recent years for first-line identification of pathogens in clinical microbiology because it is simple to use, rapid, and accurate and has economic benefits in hospital management. The range of clinical applications of MALDI-TOF MS for bacterial isolates is increasing constantly, from species identification to the...
ReviewCutaneous Mycobacterial InfectionsHumans encounter mycobacterial species due to their ubiquity in different environmental niches. In many individuals, pathogenic mycobacterial species may breach our first-line barrier defenses of the innate immune system and modulate the activation of phagocytes to cause disease of the respiratory tract or the skin and soft tissues, sometimes resulting in disseminated infection.
- ReviewTreatment of Toxoplasmosis: Historical Perspective, Animal Models, and Current Clinical Practice
Primary Toxoplasma gondii infection is usually subclinical, but cervical lymphadenopathy or ocular disease can be present in some patients. Active infection is characterized by tachyzoites, while tissue cysts characterize latent disease.
- ReviewMethicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus: Molecular Characterization, Evolution, and Epidemiology
Staphylococcus aureus, a major human pathogen, has a collection of virulence factors and the ability to acquire resistance to most antibiotics. This ability is further augmented by constant emergence of new clones, making S. aureus a “superbug.” Clinical use of methicillin has led to the appearance...
- ReviewRecent Development of Visceral Leishmaniasis Treatments: Successes, Pitfalls, and Perspectives
Research in visceral leishmaniasis in the last decade has been focused on how better to use the existing medicines as monotherapy or in combination. Systematic research by geographical regions has shown that a universal treatment is far from today's reality.
- ReviewNonsuppurative (Aseptic) Meningoencephalomyelitis Associated with Neurovirulent Astrovirus Infections in Humans and Animals
Astroviruses are thought to be enteric pathogens. Since 2010, a certain group of astroviruses has increasingly been recognized, using up-to-date random amplification and high-throughput next-generation sequencing (NGS) methods, as potential neurovirulent (Ni) pathogens of severe central nervous system (CNS) infections, causing encephalitis, meningoencephalitis, and meningoencephalomyelitis.
